russian rap and other loves

my stone rolled across the floor

it was unspeaking

at first

though i

asked it many things

i was certain

it had something to say

all it gave me was silence until

time

stopped moving

ceased being itself

i’ll admit this took me by surprise, really

brought it home

no give in that

cold

nose chipped

lips twitched

a snarl? An utterance dredged from the underworld?

but on the rock

all that surfaced

were the seeds of

daydreaming flowers

i could have included

an ambivalence to light after lying low

for all those hourly instances

sleepwalking toward solitude

why not a single minute passed by like

bare footsteps I still

am not sure

receding, they opened other doors

but these things have their own language

you said

slipping into it

unable to catch yourself completely

and eyes after all

were not mute in this matter

were not manifest of themselves but

lips and tongue and chords

vocalising the very moment at which i

entered into sight and

sent sighs down the line while

electronic signals returned to tell me

modify the ending of a noun to change the tone of the word and

make it more endearing

sound smaller

say less but mean more

a diminutive suffix affixed to love

the colour of honey

or

silent as a rock

i could alter language itself

to tell you everything

or remain myself

a stone